Canon USA had previously warned that the front rubber grips on some EOS Rebel T4i units may turn white due to a substance called zinc bis (N,N’-dimethyldithiocarbamate).
Today. the The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled about 68,200 cameras sold by major US retailers for repair.

"WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product."

"It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product." So does this mean that if anyone doesn't send it in for the recall fix, then sells it on the B&S, etc., that they're breaking the law? Sounds like it...

rscheffler wrote:
"It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product." So does this mean that if anyone doesn't send it in for the recall fix, then sells it on the B&S, etc., that they're breaking the law? Sounds like it...

yeah, if i had one i'd make sure to keep hold of the recall fix papers from canon if i had one with the bad serial #s otherwise i imagine the resell value will be crazy low

Feb 15, 2010 8:00 AM
What it is: Most recalls of defective products are characterized as "voluntary," a confusing term that can lead consumers to believe that the recall is optional. But voluntary recall is just government-speak for a deal that a manufacturer or retailer of a hazardous product has negotiated with the federal agency in charge of overseeing the safety of that product category. Voluntary recall would also seem to indicate that there are “mandatory recalls” that can be issued by the government should manufacturers or retailers refuse to cooperate, but nearly all the recalls announced last year were voluntary.

Why it's news: While voluntary recalls have been—for all practical purposes—the only means by which the government can get dangerous and defective products off the market, that's about to change. Last month the Consumer Product Safety Commission unanimously approved a new rule setting guidelines and requirements for mandatory recalls and those rules are set to go into effect on February 22. A mandatory recall can be ordered by the CPSC or a U.S. District Court. The requirement for the new rules was part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act and was originally proposed by President Barack Obama when he was a Senator. At this point it remains unclear how often and under what circumstances the CPSC might turn to a mandatory recall instead of a voluntary one when the new rules take effect....Show more →

True enough, but I rather suspect that driving across Nevada, or hiking Zion, Bryce, etc. on a blustery day, places you are much greater risk of inhaling that lethal speck of Pu than buying a dozen cameras.

As recalls go, this seems pretty harmless. Periodically washing the grips should (?) forestall just about any conceivable health issue.

irish-george wrote:
I don't know what possessed Canon to change from what was working (on all their previous models) to a rubber coating that can cause skin rashes...

Not sure in this case but manufacturers are always trying to improve their materials and processes, for higher yields, better quality, and/or lower costs. Helps improve products but the occasional mistake is inevitable.

skibum5 wrote:
although if a few specs of plutonium were to settle into the box packed up too close to the wrong sort of incident and you opened it and inhaled them that chart would all go to pot

Probably not actually - Pu has an extremely long half-life (tens of thousands of years), which means it emits very low levels of radiation. You'd need something with a very short half-life, like Po, to get dangerous doses from a few specs.